â€œWe are indeed sorry to see Robb leave,â€ Dueck said in a statement announcing the resignation.

The resignation by Davis, who joined MCC on June 1, 2005, was accepted by the MCC executive committee Oct. 24 and announced Oct. 25.

In an interview Oct. 25, Dueck said a basic reason for the resignation was â€œdifficulty in providing clarity of leadershipâ€ as the growing relief, development and peace agency examines plans for its future operation.

â€œI think there was a little lack of direction in changes that were being made,â€ Dueck said, though he added that the executive committee and MCC board were â€œquite happyâ€ with Davisâ€™ performance.

â€œWe have had a number of meetings in the past couple of months to see how MCC can best work with the churches . . . to be more efficient and more effective [and to determine] whether we needed to be more aggressive in our programming or more accepting of the status quo,â€ Dueck said. â€œThere were some concerns about the speed with which some of these changes were being made.â€

Dueck said Davis asked that his resignation be immediate because â€œhe thought he might be ineffective in speaking for MCCâ€ while a new executive director is being sought.

Davis â€” who recently organized a meeting of U.S. religious leaders with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York â€” had previously served as a senior vice president for Freedom from Hunger in Davis, Calif.

In its announcement, MCC said its executive committee will appoint an MCC staff member to handle Davisâ€™ administrative responsibilities until an interim director is found.

Once the interim director is in place, the committee will begin its search for a long-term replacement for Davis.

Dueck said the executive committee was to meet Oct. 25 to decide who will take on Davisâ€™ responsibilities for the near future.